


The Academy

by iluvaqt



Series: DC & Marvel: Nightingale [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Smallville, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Past Relationship(s), Post-Captain America: The First Avenger, Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-18
Updated: 2015-09-18
Packaged: 2018-04-21 08:30:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4822274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iluvaqt/pseuds/iluvaqt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Following the events of "Captain America: The First Avenger". Steve is awake in the year 2012. Everything he once knew is severely out-dated. Friends and loved ones are all buried or only just hanging on. He's a soldier, and he wants a new mission but first he needs to adjust to the world he's woken up to. And for that he'll need to go back to school.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Academy

Her corner office was about a quarter of the size of the Daily Planet Basement copy room and probably about the same size as her half of her shared dorm room back at Met U had been. She had enough space to just fit in a desk and two filing cabinets, and if she shoved her desk chair to one corner, she could squeeze her yoga mat on the floor. 

And that’s how she first met Steve Rogers. Well, his feet anyway.

“I’m sorry, Ma’am. I was told you were expecting me. I can come back later.”

Chloe lowered her feet to the floor and slowly shifted positions to see the world right side up. She was sweaty, probably red-faced and not in uniform or even acceptable business attire but a cropped sports top and yoga pants and she was about to greet Phil’s childhood hero. He was going to be mortified on her behalf. Standing, she took a large gulp of water before she nodded at him. “First up, there will be no, ma’am.”

“Yes, Ma--” 

At her glare he quickly snapped his jaw shut and blushed with a sheepish smile, which she found totally adorable, and annoying. He was supposed to be a seasoned war veteran, this larger than life, iconic figure. She worried she was going to have her hands full trying to get him to take her seriously. Instead, he wasn’t at all what she expected. He had a peaceful, stillness about him. He was thoughtful, reflective and he had intelligence in his eyes. His eyes tracked over her and she found she could suddenly work with his assessment. He was trying to figure her out, he was honestly curious. Just as she was suddenly interested in learning what made him tick.

“How would you like me to address you, Agent Sullivan?”

“Sully will do,” she said quickly. “It’s what people around here call me.”

Steve frowned. In his day, no one would choose to call themselves that. It wasn’t an attribute one would aspire to. “Can I ask why?”

Chloe shrugged one shoulder. “I growl?” she said with quirk to her lips. “So tell me, Captain Rogers, are we going to have any problems? I’m your CO for the next six weeks. I assign the tasks, you carry them out to the letter. I want to know up front if you can handle that. I don’t want to waste my time, or have you waste yours. You want to get back on the active duty roster, but I’m not the only one who can pass you.”

Steve seemed to straighten a little taller and his expression turned all business. “No Ma’a- I’m mean, Agent Sullivan. Whatever you say, to the letter. My CO in the war was U.S. Army Colonel Phillips but a lot of my orders came through SSR Special Agent Margaret Carter. You’ll have no trouble from me.”

Snatching up her towel from the back of the chair, she mopped her face and neck and then brushed past him, almost feeling every contour of his arms through his jacket. If they were going to be meeting in her office frequently, she might have to change the layout of her furniture to create a little more breathing space. Or she could always set a time to meet at the various buildings around the compound. She gave the arm of his open Harrington jacket, which was only partially covering what she would only describe as grandpa plaid, and winced internally. She would never bemoan Clark’s limited color palette again. Blue and red was miles better than curdled milk tones.

“You might want to grab a recruit uniform. You’re going to attract the wrong sort of attention here, dressed like that. Go see Admissions and tell them to bill my office. Come meet me at the gym in twenty minutes, soldier.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Her forehead thumped against the door and she closed her eyes in exasperation. The damn man, even snapped to attention and saluted her before leaving through the door she held open for him. Chloe shook her head, while biting her lip to fight a smile. Perhaps it was partially her fault for how she’d addressed him for him to revert so quickly. She wondered what kind of punishment she could inflict to get him to break the habit.

::: ::: :::

There was a steady puff and whoosh of exhale-inhale below her and she merely went about reading her report, making annotations as she read. Maria had sent over two dossiers that she wanted reviewed before she sent them back to Fury. Chloe had a way of picking up things that even some of the most seasoned analysts in her department missed. It probably didn’t help that some of those agents were more interested in video games and creating avatars than doing actual eye straining research.

The movement stopped and his huffing quieted. Chloe was impressed to discover that after two hundred reps that he didn’t collapse and had actually paused fully extended. Show off. A quick glance down showed he was quite rosy in the face and there was a thin sheen of sweat across his brow.

“Are we done, Captain?”

“Yes, M-- Agent Sullivan.”

He still refused to call her Sully, but they were making progress. He hadn’t even got to the _a_ this time before catching himself.

“You were a paratrooper in the war, is that correct?” She didn’t move from her perch on his back, and although his shoulder muscles were twitching, he didn’t ask or give himself reprieve either.

Steve took a breath and closed his eyes with a nod. “Yes, my regiment were all sniper, demolitions and parachute trained.”

“Great, we’ll just be going through a refresher then.” She got up and made a show of stretching even though the extent of exercise she’d done all afternoon was pen scratching to paper, and clicking a stopwatch and counter. He rolled to his feet with the grace of a cat and she had to yank her eyes up from the inadvertent drifting his flexing muscles had invited. Thankfully he hadn’t caught her brief ogling. “I’ll meet you at the range in ten minutes,” she said turning to leave. She paused halfway to the exit of the gym and called back to him over her shoulder, “Oh and Captain. If you slip up again, I’ll have you bench-press my VW.” His eyes rounded and he pursed his lips, saying nothing.

As she walked way she could see his reflection in the glass doors, he was scratching the back of his neck, no doubt creating an inner mantra of not saying Ma’am. Honestly, she loathed the address. She would rather someone yell, hey you, then hear them call her ma’am. It made her feel centuries old. It was troubling enough that she might very well live to see a century or more. She didn’t want to feel like she was there already.

::: ::: :::

The jet dropped them and their crate of gear at the foot of the Star Chaser Ridge. It was a challenging, breath-taking land mass to take in, with more than a few inverted angles and in parts almost smooth eroded rock. This would be the first time she’d rock climbed this particular route, but she knew all her other climbs would be much too easy for Steve.

So she let him know this was a virgin climb for her, at which his ears turned red, and his eyes widened, and she tried very hard not to grin, as she proceeded to get herself into her into her harness. She had recruited one of the other Academy supervisors to belay and set about tying herself off as lead climber. Helmet secured, carabiner and cam belts on, rope bag ready, she tossed him the extra water canteen and headed for what looked like a frequently used starting point.

Leading a team climb on her first run at this rock face, she was pretty impressed with her progress, that she dared to actually look down at her climbing companion, rather than just hollering down at him for updates.

She had shoved in her last anchor midway through the worst of the inverted angles they’d come up against, and she could feel all her muscles burning, but she pressed on. Once they got around and over that edge, they’d be able to rest on the top and call it a day. Eight hours of steady climbing, all the nerves in her body screaming and her muscles all twitching, she knew she didn’t have much more left to give.

Captain Super-Serum didn’t seem to be tired at all and she could practically feel his breath on her ankles he was that close. He always made sure to find a good resting spot and never put his weight on any cam closer than two away. Which in reality meant he was at least thirty feet away from her, most of the time, but her brain wasn’t being logical right now. She’d never come up against anyone who could excel at all her challenges. She was worried that while trying to find his Achilles’ Heel, she’d pushed herself harder than she could handle. A rookie mistake.

One glance down and her brain went blank as the altitude and her precarious position hit her all at once. There was literally a few cams between her and being a devastating montage on the side of the mountain or worse, plummeting to her death if their equipment failed. She’d survived a fall and walked away with a broken arm. But that was out of a second story window. The trees below looked miniature and she couldn’t even see their belayer. 

Falling out of the Luthor Mansion library window had given her healthy fear of heights, but one she’d managed to curb by not actually paying attention to how high she was, and trusting in her equipment. At that moment she didn’t trust her hands and arms to keep her up, or the equipment to hold them both if she didn’t get over this overhead lip in the next two minutes.

Clamping her eyes shut, Chloe breathed in and out deeply, trying to get her heartbeat under control. The sudden release of adrenaline was making her muscles tremble and her grip was slipping. She was sweating and she needed more chalk but she couldn’t even let one hand go to re-chalk. Even though rationally she knew she had to if she wanted to make that next hold stick.

Her shoulders were almost stiff now, her biceps burning, and her fingers numb, her heart thundering in her chest. The cold of the rock against her cheek wasn’t even helping cool the heat in her face.

“You have to move, Chloe. The longer you stay there, it’ll increase your chances of not making a good swing. You need to move. Now.”

The calm but authoritative edge to his voice, not to mention his use of her first name, snapped her out of her panic.

After she slipped on her first swing and nearly lost her hold, she heard a sharp intake of breath from below but didn’t let her failed attempt shake her determination to be done with this exercise.

After a breather, using the sling she’d placed as a resting foot hold, she gave her arms a rest for a second and let go, letting her harness and the closed cam hold her up. Shaking out her cramping muscles, she renewed her grip and made the swing again. This time she was able to hang on, and fighting her instincts, she let go of her sure hold, to grab the lip edge with both hands. 

With what felt like a herculean effort, she pulled herself over. And legs still dangling over the precipice, she fell on her back resting against the cold hard rock and turned her face to the sky, Her chest rising and falling, she let her adrenaline high ebb and let out a hysterical giggle.

That’s how he found her. Grinning like a loon, her blonde strands stuck to her face from all sides, helmet hair and a wide smile on her lips.

He clamped them both into the existing anchor point at the end of the ledge. “What now, Agent Sullivan?” he asked with a good natured smile.

Chloe squinted up at him from where she still lay on her back. He hadn’t said a word about her display of weakness. The obviousness of her panic or her amateurish response to the vertigo a seasoned climber shouldn’t have. It was in that moment as she appreciated his level-headedness under pressure, his humble presence and his genuinely wholesome character with that handsome smile of his that she realize he was easily the type of man she could fall head over feet for in an instant. And that was bad, very bad. She’d been on the unrequited side of an enduring love with a wholesome heroic type before. It was devastating for her physical and emotional wellbeing. So she went with her age old defense.

“Stop being a smart ass and rubbing your apparent invulnerability and natural talent in my face, Captain,” she growled. Wincing as she sat up gingerly, she reached over her shoulder and pulled out her radio. “Sully to Richards, we’re coming down. Call in our ride." She set up her belay, and nodded at him. “Off you go, Captain.”

She tried not to notice the hurt on his face at her dismissal and her remark intended to sour the mood. Their interactions needed to remain strictly professional. She was his CO for the duration of his time at the Academy and she had no doubts that their paths would cross in future. There just weren’t that many highly skilled and expertly trained S.H.I.E.L.D agents on their roster. If she was going to keep her reputation, something she worked hard for, she needed to keep him at a distance. It wouldn’t do for him to discover the slightly vulnerable, meteor-infected, possibly immortal Chloe Sullivan, the girl who’d pined for her best friend for the better part of ten years and played agony aunt to his oddly normal guy problems that only had an alien/super-powered twist. 

She guarded her heart behind an impenetrable fortress. It had been broken one too many times, first as a young girl abandoned by her mother, then later as a teen by her father, being forever relegated to faithful best friend, never the girl of his dreams by the only boy, now a man that she’d ever loved… Chloe knew she didn’t trust easily. She was born skeptical. At least that’s what her father often joked about in the past. She was born with green eyes open and taking in the world, curiosity and wonder practically bursting out of her. 

The incoming jet ruffled her hair and the exhaust from the turbines swept it away from her face, she used her arm as a shield against the dust storm while it turned and made a descent and snuck a glance out of the corner of her eye at Steve. He still had that troubled look on his face, his brow furrowed and his lips had a slight downturn. Her heart twinged at the hurt puppy picture he made. 

She fed the the rope through an existing anchor point and roped herself in to belay him over. She fixed the leader end to his harness and dismissed the look of concerned he gave her. He was no doubt wondering if she had enough energy left in her to belay and then make her descent.

“Ready?” she asked, giving the rope a tug to signal more slack.

He had his back to their view now, and he was slowly angling himself out over the edge. At his nod, she let him have more rope and with a jump he disappeared over the edge. She kept feeding the rope steadily, until she heard over the radio that he’d reached the the bottom. A tug on his end of the line and she found it slack. So she hauled it up and tied herself in. Unhooking from the anchor, she tossed the slack over the side and waited for the line to tighten up before moving to the edge.

“Ready to belay?” she called over the radio.

“Ready,” came Richards affirmative.

Sucking in a fortifying breath, she forced herself to look over the edge as she angled out. She could just make them out below. And there was Steve, his hand up to shield against the fading sun, his eagle eyes trained on her descent. Chloe smiled a little. As much as she wanted to deny it, his concern was heartwarming. A brief memory came to mind of falling from the top floor of the Daily Planet and free flailing, she was so shocked that she’d let out barely more than a shriek before she wondered if this death would be painful. She didn’t even remember what it felt like to die when she’d used her meteor power on Lois. She’d felt pain over seeing her cousin bloodied and lifeless, hot tears on her face and then nothing. Waking up in a cold morgue drawer was enough of a terrifying memory to obliterate everything else.

Just at the right moment, Clark had appeared and caught her in his arms before she could hit the floor. Her heart still doing the samba in her chest, she had smiled up at him like she believed she could always count on him, and honestly, now that she knew the reason why he’d left her at Spring Formal, she believed that he never would let her down. Even now, if she was to scream his name as she fell, she trusted that he would break sound barriers and all the laws of physics to catch her.

As she jumped the next few feet while repelling, she looked down at Steve. He was still watching her intently, his arm half raised at his side as though readying to move in at a moment's notice.

Secretly, she admitted that she wouldn’t have to call in a Super Save. There was a man quite ready and able to swoop in and make a daring rescue if the need arose. And she suddenly had every confidence that he could catch her.

::: ::: ::: 

They were sparring while they waited for the simulation room to be free. She had booked it for this two hour block this afternoon but the last session was running over. Since it was a group prepping for a special assignment, she wasn't going to stir a fuss. Besides after their teamwork and trust building exercise she needed to find her zone again. He was getting through her defences.

She had shed her uniform jacket earlier and he was in standard issue t-shirt while she was in a sports singlet. She came at him with a round house and he neatly caught her attack and threw her to the ground. 

"You're sloppy. Word is you're fast and you have a unique fighting style. Don't hold back."

Chloe glared up at him. "Who's instructing who?"

He smiled down at her playfully. "Not you, apparently." He offered her a hand up, which she ignored and bounced to her feet. She rolled her neck to loosen some tension and then she decided to go for it.

Her leg attacks were much stronger than her hand strikes and punches but she would use them to distract him. She got in close, circling him as he shifted his feet always keeping a firm stance. He made a grab for her and she ducked out of reach striking below his kneecap with the heel of her palm, forcing it up. She felt it click and from his grunt, she know it had to be painful. She followed that by a full force double kick to his stomach, clipping his chin with her heel as she flipped away. Her size, her speed and her flexibility worked to her advantage and in the time it had taken for him to regain his stance and renew his offensive, she had executed her combination attack. He raised one hand to assess the damage to his jaw, and he leaned forward a little to breathe through the stars no doubt. If he was hoping that she’d give him a breather, he was wrong. He wanted full throttle, she wouldn’t spare him an inch. Granted he'd only been up and walking around for a month but his reputation was stuff of legend. He was supposed to be able to take on the likes of fearsome fighters like Red Skull, Baron von Strucker, and their personal guard solo but she wasn’t feel it today. She ran at him and got her legs around his neck. He used his mass to back them into a column, throwing her against it, but Chloe was ready for it and kept her head forward so that her hips took the brunt of the impact and didn't shake her grip. His hands were incredibly strong and it didn't take much to separate her ankles. Before he could throw her down, she used her needle attack and when he inevitably crashed forward, she was grateful that at least his head made it to the training mats. She'd hate for him to break his nose on the polished concrete floor.

She climbed off him and rolled him into his back. His nose was a bit mooshed but when she felt it out, it wasn't broken. He might have a bruise tomorrow though. After she took the needle out, she watched him blink up at the ceiling.

"What happened?" he asked. "What did you hit me with? Must be a new kind of drug. That stuff usually doesn't work on me."

Chloe smiled. "Super strength and a super metabolism are great but that doesn't make you invulnerable. Your skin is penetrable which means bullets, needles, knives, explosives and hard light attacks, electroshock will still bring you down. You wanted me to show you something new. I used a special form of Chinese acupressure and acupuncture on you. A very specific point in your neck will render you unconscious. It stimulates the same kind of effect on the nerve center that general anaesthesia does. A lone needle in a different spot will stop your heart."

"Who taught you?" He sat up rubbing that spot reflexively, his eyes shuttering in concern and his face betraying his thoughts as he digested this new information. 

Chloe only felt the briefest pang of empathy for him before rationalising this experience away as necessary. No one liked hearing about all the ways they could die. In his chosen line of work, the risks were already high. New methods of attack while concerning, were always handy to learn more about so you could defense against them..

"My Sensei," she said in offhanded explaination. "I wanted more training after I graduated the Academy. Special Agent Coulson put me in touch with a contact he had in Singapore. In the six months I spent with his family, he taught me several disciplines, including the sacred art, the way of the Dragon."

Steve smiled tentatively. "Sounds dangerous."

Chloe nodded, her eyes crinkling at the edges as she remembered her experience and returned his smile. "I spent a lot of time eating mat and I acquired a new apprehension and respect for needles."

Steve eyed her bracelet, grasping her wrist lightly to inspect the oriental design more closely. "I've never seen anything like that."

His warm touch burned through her skin and spread over her nerves like wildfire, sending an inferno of sensation through her body. Her heart rate picked up and she felt heat crawling up her face. She closed her eyes and did her best to discreetly remove herself from his grasp. If just a simple brush of contact could cause her to lose control of her body’s responses she feared what a kiss from him might do.

She glanced at the clock and over at the double doors that lead to the state of the art simulation auditorium. “I don’t think they’re going to be done for awhile. We’ll break for lunch. I’ll call you on your pager when the room’s ready.”

“We could go get lunch together,” he suggested. “Unless you have plans?” he added, his expression speculative. As though the thought belatedly occurred to him that she could be busy.

Chloe almost betrayed her relief visibly at the out he’d inadvertently offered her, yet instead of making up a valid excuse she found herself babbling. “I usually eat in my office and you know what a match box it is. I doubt we’d even fit another chair in there.”

“You do have a neat view of the place,” he countered with a small smile.

Mr. Optimism. She’d almost forgot about that quality. Chloe inclined her head pondering his comment. “Guess I have to remind myself to stop and smell the roses so to speak. I don’t really look out the window all that much.”

Against her better judgement, her self preservation screaming at her, she found herself saying, “You know what, we’ll have lunch near the lake. It’s nice weather and it’s not often that it’s mild enough I’m not in any danger of burning to crisp in the Texas sun.” She got to her feet and snatched her jacket from where she’d hung it over a guard-rail. “You coming?”

Steve grinned and rolled to his feet, snatching up his jacket to follow her.

::: ::: ::

“How are you finding things?” she asked conversationally.

Steve shrugged. “A lot changed really fast when I volunteered for the program. One minute I was a skinny, weak kid from Brooklyn, the next I was to be the secret weapon for the S.S.R and the Allied Forces, only for all their plans to change in the next instant when my creator died. For months I was nothing more than a guinea pig and a propaganda tool. I felt like a failure and a fraud. I was no hero. But if I was keeping up morale of the men and women who were out there fighting for our freedom, and inspiring others to join then I’d wear the tights and play the role. Then my friend’s regiment got captured behind enemy lines and there was no way I could sit on the sidelines anymore. Some would say my life wasn’t mine to risk. That if HYDRA had captured me and successfully extracted the serum from my blood, the war could have been lost. Things didn’t go that way, and I had the chance to prove that I could be trusted with the gift Dr. Erskine had given me. I got dropped in a lot of different places during the war, all over the globe. Never did learn how to speak Mandarin or French properly, but my Russian and German’s passable.”

Chloe grinned. “My Russian sounds horrible but my French, Japanese and Mandarin is quite good. And I can read and write Latin. Agent Romanoff is the prodigy linguist around here though. After dropping you in the deep end, do you think you can handle programming a Tivo or using a computer? ” 

Steve chuckled, his smile lighting up his whole face. “I’m fairly confident I can find the power button on any device and a menu bar. Beyond that, I’m still a duck out of water.”

“Hey, I grew up in the era of technology and I saw the developments first hand. I can only imagine what it’s like to wake up to what they’ve got today from nothing. It’s a mad paced world where people can share a thought via video at dinner and have it take the world by storm by breakfast.”

“The internet is a little terrifying.”

Chloe took a bite of her cold chicken salad wrap and nodded. “It’s the digital world we live in. It’s a tool and like any tool it can be used the wrong way. Don’t sign yourself up for anything you’re not comfortable with.”

He dipped his head before glancing over her with a nod, accepting her advice and then zeroed in on her mouth. “You got a little…” He made a gesture near the corner of his mouth, on the left side of his chin.

She tried to wipe at it, but obviously she wasn’t getting at it, whatever it was because he reached over and swiped the spot himself. Again his touch sent a thrill through her. Her eyes closed involuntarily and she could feel her hands shaking. Setting her wrap down in her lap, she licked her lips and opened her eyes to look at him.

Intense blue eyes connected with hers and even before she could form any coherent thought or get her heartbeat under control, he was leaning in. Lips that were so often set into a thin line in concentration or concern were surprisingly soft and assertive. Even with her delayed response, he didn’t pull away. He shifted closer, his hands cupping her face and threading into her short hair. She found herself sighing into his kiss and opening her mouth, of which he took immediate advantage. His kiss sent a ripple of sensation through her body, awakening every hidden desire and almost forgotten longing that she’d buried deep since saying goodbye to Clark and her old life all those years ago. She didn’t have time for dating or romance and she certainly wasn’t about to set herself up for disappointment or heartbreak. She would never shut the door any opportunities that came her way, there just weren’t all that many that dared to knock on her door either. Steve wasn’t knocking. He had just waited for an opening and dove right through. 

She angled her head, lost in the tide he was stirring inside her and a sudden yelp and the loss of his tongue and mouth snapped her out of her blissful haze. Her eyes grew wide as she watched him touch the bridge of his nose.

He gave her a rueful grin. “I guess I have you to thank for that,” he joked with good humor. “Not complaining though if that’s my reward.” He eyed her mouth which she was sure looked suitably reddened and thoroughly kissed.

The air around them was still, too still. Chloe blinked. The ripples of the lake were frozen, as were the leaves in the tree. Either Steve hadn’t noticed, or didn’t think it was odd. Her heart was so full in her chest she thought it was in danger of exploding any second. It was then that she realized her skin was letting off a certain tell-tale orange glow.

When she looked back at Steve, she realized the reason he hadn’t noticed was that he seemed frozen too. He wasn’t blinking and his lips were set in a half smirk displaying the small dimple he had accenting his perfect cheekbones.

At a loss to understand what was happening, and more than a little freaked out by the fact that he’d kissed her. She’d let him and even kissed him back, enthusiastically, Chloe did the only thing she could. She ran.

::: ::: :::

The next morning, after dodging his calls and his messages. She waited in the staff lounge for someone from the legal department to show up and advise her that she was suspended pending the results of an investigation of misconduct.

Damn it, she couldn’t even stick to her own rules over not getting involved with a person on her team or under her command. Not that there had been many instances she had even needed to remind herself of those rules. Only one really. A fellow recruit, seriously hot with abs you could do laundry on who had reminded her a little of Clark, but had a dangerous Kal vibe, so she hadn’t been beguiled by his easy smile or his innate charm, even after he graduated. Good thing too. Turns out her instincts where Grant Ward were concerned, were spot on. He was troubled and dangerous with a capital D. Not that she’d been able to wrangle a word out of Phil about his rogue agent, who they’d discovered was a HYDRA double agent, she’d heard on the S.H.I.E.L.D in-house gossip mill. Which is sort of what she was fearing right now, they hadn’t exactly been out of sight of prying eyes and the place was full of snoops, and spies in training.

Steve paced outside Chloe’s office for an hour before hunting down a member of staff to ask if he could make a phone call. He’d forgotten to recharge the simple cellular phone he’d acquired on his scavenger hunt across the country and he had a feeling they didn’t sell spare batteries that would fit anywhere nearby. It didn’t seem to take the regular store type batteries. 

After she had disappeared in the middle of their lunch outing - seemingly into thin air - he had worried that his forward behavior had angered her. She hadn’t seemed unhappy at the time, but as Peggy once said, he still didn’t know a bloody thing about women. And honestly it wasn’t as though he’d had much opportunity to learn either. But then the sun went down, his calls unanswered and she didn’t show. He’d gone back to his room and hoped he still had a CO to report to in the morning.

Deciding an hour was enough time to delay what had to be done, she headed up to her office to face the music. They almost collided with one another as she exited the lift. He stood there patiently, expectantly, a trace of silent accusation in his eyes.

“I apologize,” Chloe started quickly. “What happened, shouldn’t have happened. I’m your superior on base and I’m responsible for you.”

“All due respect, the only thing you have to apologize for is avoiding me,” he said his tone even but his blue eyes looked stormy and his expression was unyielding.

Chloe nodded once with a resigned shrug. “Sorry.”

He frowned. “Are we going to discuss what happened?”

Chloe’s eyes flew wide. “It shouldn’t have happened, I apologized. Can we move on?” She watched as his hands flexed at his sides. And his jaw developed a sudden tick.

“I thought… if you kiss someone back…” he trailed off and glanced away, his throat worked silently for a second before he blinked once and found her gaze again. “Did it mean anything to you?”

Chloe folded her arms defensively over her chest. She suddenly felt very cold, and even though her heart protested against it, she ignored those sentiments. “You’re a good man, Steve. I’m not the kind of person you get close to. Everyone who’s ever tried winds up getting hurt. I’m a magnet for danger.”

His eyes narrowed and he folded his arms over his chest mirroring her posture. “Are you sure they’re the ones who get hurt?”

That stung and she knew that he’d hit a partial truth. If she didn’t let alone too close, they couldn’t hurt her when they inevitably left.

Chloe swallowed and wondered if this was the Steve the enemy saw. The all business, put the fear of God into them, natural leader who raced headlong into danger no matter the odds to get the mission done. “I won’t defend my choices to you. It was a lapse in judgement. And once you get through the simulation you’ve yet to complete, perhaps you’ll understand my position a little better.”

Steve dropped his arms, but his expression remained doubtful. She could feel his unease, and his confusion at her continued distance emotionally, but she’d already let down too many of her boundaries around him. He was well and truly under her skin and if her wonky meteor infection abilities were anything to go on, she couldn’t trust herself around him.

As she suspected, he was emotionally raw and exhausted when the simulation ended. The exercise was a mission doomed to end in failure. It was an experience designed to test how their prospective agents handled extreme circumstances with high stakes. No one suspected the sleeper hostage plant, or the remote bomb trigger. The only consolation was minimizing casualties. Sometimes entire squads were lost and no one survived the simulation. In most scenarios 70% of the hostages were freed, and when back up didn’t arrive in time, the bomb detonated only killing the wearer and the targets remaining. In this scenario, Steve and the simulated demolitions expert of his team, along with the downed targets were the only ones to get caught in the explosion. The sleeper having escaped with the other freed hostages, remotely detonated the bomb after realizing demands weren’t going to be met. 

Wiping the sweat from his brow, he sat on the bench outside the auditorium and squinted up at her in the early afternoon sun. “So what are we? When this is all over?”

Chloe leaned against the bike stand opposite where he sat and took in his resigned posture and his weary expression. “This job is difficult. That simulation actually happened. There was a remote trigger that we discovered in the wreckage left behind. There was a plant among the hostages that only the targets knew about. One of the bank tellers. She was caught later trying to withdraw the Cayman transfers that they’d had the manager wire. In another life I would have been a Pulitzer Journalist. Instead I’m a S.H.I.E.L.D Agent but most days I spend my time doing much the same thing I’ve always done since I learned the world needed more than just truth. They need protection. Everyday people go around often completely unaware of the dangers we avert every day. What we do is important, but it doesn’t allow for a lot of personal time either. And that’s a hazard on any relationship.”

“So I wasn’t reading the signals wrong?" he asked so earnestly that Chloe just didn’t have it in her to deny him.

“No, you weren’t. But I’m saving us both a lot of trouble and calling it before it has a chance to blow up in our faces. You’re leagues above me, Steve. Don’t make the mistake of diving in on a rebound.”

Steve frowned and then glared when he realized what her statement implied. “Does everyone know?”

“About the date you missed?” she elaborated softly. “No, but I was on tactical comms. and aerial surveillance that day and I’d read your file. I was a reporter, I can make connections and follow leads on nothing more than a hunch. Your expression, not the mention the last recordings the S.S.R had, only a deaf analyst would have stayed oblivious.”

“Peggy and I… we were close but we weren’t in a relationship. Never even had a first date.”

“But there was something,” Chloe finished for him. “That feeling doesn’t just go away. Time went on without you, Steve but I’m sure your heart hasn’t caught up to that. You owe it to yourself, and anyone you might meet someday to work through this. Give yourself time to adjust, visit Peggy… Agent Carter.. if you haven’t already.”

Steve shook his head. “I looked her up. Not sure I’m ready yet.”

“First love never fades, but it does get easier. You need the closure.”

“Sounds like you’re talking from experience.”

Chloe gave him a look that warned him off pursuing that train of thought. She sucked in a steadying breath and let it out slowly, releasing the tension in her shoulders at the same time. “From another life,” she whispered. 

::: ::: :::

Chloe held her side, breathing in short breaths, trying to move through the red haze of pain that was threatening to make her blackout. Just a few more minutes.

Two days in there wasn’t any doubt that she was going to give him a passing grade. He was the best she’d ever had the pleasure of assessing. He had all the qualities of a natural born leader, confidence in his abilities, composed under pressure and a strategic thinker. And he wasn’t opposed to taking instructions from anyone, especially if it was in an area he was unfamiliar with. As he revealed on his 30-hour mission AMAZING RACE style with nothing but the clothes on his back and fifty dollars in his pocket. Surviving the war, she had no doubt that Steve was a minimalist and could probably survive on air, but she knew he still wasn’t used to modern conveniences, especially technology and she had made sure to throw a few curve-balls in his scavenger hunt. 

She hadn’t been totally without mercy, however, she had add in two life-lines to use in the event he really got stuck. He had only used one - when at his wit’s end he couldn’t figure out how to activate the service for the burn phone she’d had him purchase.

There was also no way she was going to leave America’s most valuable asset in the middle of a bustling city like Los Angeles without monitoring. Not only did he have a pager that she was remotely tracking, but she’d asked Clark to keep an ear out. Just so if Steve ran into any trouble, a.k.a HYDRA caught wind that Captain America was unarmed and alone, he would have back up in a second.

He had made it back to the S.H.I.E.L.D Academy of Operations gates just fifteen-minutes shy of the deadline and from the look on his face and the state of his sneakers, had probably run all the way from the Texas border. He could have hitchhiked to the nearest town at least, but he probably didn’t want to compromise the location of the facility.

The warehouse mock up forest was a mess. Trees that were close to ten years old, some even twenty that had been painstakingly transplanted to create this simulated dense and natural environment had taken a good deal of damage, some missing chunks out of the trunk, others missing whole branches. There was no doubt the man had dangerously precise aim. The foliage and bark had taken the assaults meant for her.

He moved almost as silently as she did. With his mass, she had no idea how he managed it and yet maintain his speed and agility. The softest crunch of dry leaves less than a foot away from her had her make the drastic move of scrambling up the tree she was crouched behind.

She saw him stop and listen when he was directly beneath her tree. He crouched down to study the ground and that's when she learned he had tracking skills and instead of looking for the hidden trophies - his objectives - he was going after the enemy first. She couldn’t fault his logic but unless he’d forgotten the time limit on the exercise, he’d expended a lot of time trying to take her down.

Not waiting for him to make his discovery, she dropped down and wrapped her legs around his neck and clung to his helmet long enough to make her strike. She extracted a single needle from her wrist band and jabbed it with the precision of a viper strike in the exact point that would induce coma. He continued to stagger for a moment, and the grip he had on her legs went slack before he tumbled face first into the dirt. She quickly relieved him of his shield, and waited out the timer. There was no way she could handle anymore punishment.

When the lights came back up. She removed the needle and he was on his feet not a second later. It was a good thing, she had learned not only acupuncture and acupressure from her Sensei but also how to mask her pain. While she could outwardly school her face and control her movement, her brain couldn’t allow her to box up her pain completely, she was about a breath away from passing out.

“I’ll review the recording and the markers, but for now, you’re dismissed, Captain.”

“I didn’t think you’d get to try that on me again. I suspected you might have a hidden talent of your own. You’re extremely fast but it can’t have all been you. Just how many operatives do you have in here?” he asked, his eyes narrowing as his fingers itched to touch his neck. He looked disconcerted to have been taken down so quickly and also must be feeling vulnerable without his shield.

She knew it was naive of her to believe he’d forgotten about her disappearing act the afternoon at the lake. He was assuming she even had control over that strange new quirk. Somehow she was a little grateful that he thought there were more operatives in this exercise. He obviously rightly concluded that some of his attacks had downed opponents. Pity she was the only one who could claim that title but she was also still standing, for the moment. Her vision blackened around the edges and Chloe grit her teeth. “You’re dismissed, Captain.”

He snapped to attention then and saluted her before marching away. The second the door to the warehouse slammed closed, she collapsed. 

She came around groggily sometime later. One check on her phone said she had been unconscious for twenty minutes. She texted Maria. Who promptly answered that she was on her way. E.T.A five minutes. As she felt her consciousness slipping again Chloe thought that was remarkably efficient of her friend. She hated to impose on Maria’s time, but there really wasn’t anyone else around that she trust enough to care for her when she was hurt this bad. 

Under the watchful eye of Jemma Simmons and Maria’s disapproving stare, Chloe reviewed her notes on Steve Rogers, while on strict bed rest with her torso wrapped up tight in a swath of compression bandages and anti-inflammatory gel. 

“You really are quite fortunate that your fractures didn’t puncture anything vital. What exactly were you hit with? I’ve never seen damage like that before. One of your lower ribs was almost completely shattered. We had to remove free floating fragments before they could do any visceral damage.”

“I lost a fight with a grizzly that packs a mean swipe,” she joked mildly. Her smile turning into a wince when she tried to shift herself into a better position to read her notes.

Maria huffed and grabbed the remote on the side of the bed. “You’re unbelievable, you know that?”

“It’s been remarked upon a time or two,” Chloe snarked. “I don’t need a mother hen. You’ll be happy to know, I’m passing him. Even if I’d love to just peeve the Director off a little and send him off for extra training with my Sensei for a while. Keep his asset out of the field a bit longer.”

Maria snorted. “He’d have kittens. The WSC want Captain America at their disposal. You were his only hope of getting Cap through our Academy on a fast track without proving a distraction to other recruits, while they fall all over themselves and blowing their own chances of making the cut.”

Chloe wrinkled her nose in distaste as she imagined the fawning that could happen with those who recognized Steve for his alter-ego. “So glad to know I was a last resort.”

Maria smirked. “Stop fishing. You know you’re the most sort after trainer we have on roster, not to mention the youngest.”

Chloe winked at her friend and smiled. “Between you and Sensei Li, I had the best.”

Maria returned her smile before her face turned serious. “You could have been killed today. You took unnecessary risks letting him have the upper hand in that exercise.”

Chloe shrugged the shoulder on the least painful side of her body. “He made a compelling argument. He really would never go into the field without that thing. I needed to make an unbiased call on his skill in the field and that meant putting him out there, as if it were a proper mission.”

“One shattered rib, two cracked ones and so many bruises, there’s no point counting, I would have told you to call in a favor with your boy blue and let him play shadow in the dark.”

Chloe narrowed her eyes at her friend. “I only make that call when it’s the least risk of exposure for him, and in all honesty, I’m guarding those favors. I like the fact his IOU list trumps mine. Never know when that might come in handy.”

“You’re never going to tell me how you two met or who he is are you?”

She made a show of locking her lips and vanishing the key. “That secret will never leave these lips. It’s a promise I made. And I never break my promises.”

“So if I was to say he not so anonymously called me in what I will only assume was a very real panic that your heartbeat was thready, you were unconscious and beaten to a pulp…”

Chloe groaned and slapped her hands over her face which pulled on her torn muscles and mending bones. “Damn that B.D.A,” she mumbled which came out muffled by her hands. Putting her arms down, which really was a good thing since lifting them hurt like hell, she glared at the ceiling. He probably wasn’t still hovering but he’d hear her well enough. “Thank you, you big worry wart!” she screamed as loudly as she could. That act took a lot out of her and she felt herself flag. 

Maria noted her face pale further from her exertion and rolled the dinner table away, effectively removing all distractions from her reach. “Your evaluation is done, Chloe. Just rest. I’ll take care of everything. And don’t worry. I deleted all traces of the call. His secret, just like yours is safe with me.”

Chloe felt a tear slip out of the corner of her eye. “Thank you,” she murmured softly.

::: ::: :::

Maria had seen the Captain a few times since he’d been thawed, and once after he’d woken up. His recovery had been nothing short of miraculous, but she’d seen someone come back from the dead, so miraculous was something she was learning to re-evaluate.

If he was surprised to find her in Chloe’s office, he barely showed it. 

“Commander Hill,” he acknowledged with a respectful nod.

“Congratulations, Captain. You’re now a Special Op Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. You will be contacted by Director Fury when a mission requiring your skill set comes up,” she said offering him her hand.

Steve shook her hand but couldn’t keep a frown from marring his brow. “Has Special Agent Sullivan been called away?”

Maria picked up the packet, containing his new credentials and employment contract from the desk and passed them to him. “Special Agent Sullivan had pressing business. Do you have any other questions, Captain?”

Steve seemed to catch the unvoiced dismissal in her tone and shook his head, although his eyes clearly revealed he had plenty of questions, he answered simply, "No, Ma’am.”

Maria unfolded her arms and moved to return to the seat behind the desk, she had a few phone calls to make before she could head back to New York, not to mention checking up on a certain pixie blonde before she left.

“Is she all right, Ma’am?” Steve asked, his face and his posture betraying the inner conflict he had over whether he should have dared to say anything at all.

Maria made sure she had her best poker face on when she raised her eyes to meet his. “Sully’s absolutely fine, Captain. I’m sure she’d be touched by your concern.”

The man flustered where he stood, but quickly schooled his face. But not before she caught a tell-tale blush across his neck. He gave her a nod and all but fled from the office.

Curious. Maria thought to herself. Seems her protege had caught the attention of Captain America. She wanted to laugh out loud. It seems that Chloe might be developing a habit of attracting superheroes types. 

As much as she wanted to deny that there wasn’t anything between her and Superman. It was obvious the alien protector of Metropolis had a soft spot where Chloe was concerned. It was also no secret to Maria that Chloe had a short red Blur on speed dial who had gotten them out of a HYDRA base when they'd triggered a hidden code that locked down the facility after they'd tried to download all the servers on a covert mission. The speed in which their escape had taken place, had left Chloe scrambling for an excuse and Maria sending her a challenging look, just daring her to make up something believable. In the end they’d agreed to just box it in the ‘no harm, no foul’ category. After all, secrecy was part of the job description.

Collecting her paperwork, Maria decided she’d much rather put her feet up on the end of Chloe’s bed and watch her friend squirm as she filled her in on Steve Rogers' informal graduation from the Academy. She’d also love to unearth just what had transpired between them, that had the seasoned soldier fostering a crush on her personal pixie-haired Nightingale.


End file.
